The first bus used to bring Belgian tourists whose cars were damaged as a result of the extreme weather in northern Italy is on its way to Belgium.
While the south of the country was burning, a flash hail storm in northern Italy, which led to ice flowing through the streets of Seregno in the Italian region of Lombardy, and hail balls the size of tennis balls destroying the cars belonging to locals and, of course, tourists, including hundreds of Belgians on holiday in the region.
Road assistance organisation VAB was overloaded with phone calls from Belgian tourists on holiday in northern Italy in recent days. "The bad weather in certain regions of Italy and Switzerland is causing an influx of emergency calls." The Lake Garda region in the north of Italy is particularly affected.
Some people's car windscreens are too damaged for them to drive home. Usually, these cars could be taken to a specialist centre to have the glass repaired, but the extent of the bad weather and the scale damage it caused has resulted in the local centres being overloaded. There is also a limited supply of new car windows. Waiting times can be as long as four weeks, VAB noted.
Meanwhile, flights back to Belgium are full, making it difficult for some travellers to get back. The organisation has now started using buses to take stranded passengers back home. The first Belgians travelling back this way will arrive between Friday night and Saturday morning. Taxis will take them home from the drop-off zone.
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The repatriation is taking place in phases due to the fact that people want to go home at different times. The two first buses are taking a total of 110 VAB customers home. A third bus may have to be deployed if the flights remain full or the scarce rental cars are still not a viable alternative.
The cars of affected travellers have been hoisted locally to a central depot on Lake Garda where the cars with broken windows are being taped off, VAB noted. The cars are parked behind closed doors so that they cannot be vandalised.
"The next task for the staff at the VAB Alarm Centre is now to ensure that these cars are transported back to Belgium. Next week, the first trailers of wagons will leave for Belgium," the organisation concluded.
